TVGeek: So long, Sexy Lexy.

Today's post was going to be a comics round-up. Instead, we get the stunning announcement that Michael Rosenbaum is leaving SMALLVILLE.

So.... Smallville is losing both its creators AND its presumptive villain? Is there any reason the CW is continuing this show? I mean, I'm not going to blame Tom Welling et al for wanting a steady paycheck. Work is hard to come by, even if you're a hot TV star. But I have to wonder what's going on.

We get a few hints, and it's not good.

"While Michael won't be a series regular and we won't have the pleasure of working with him on a weekly basis this fall, we like to think that we haven't seen the last of Lex Luthor. Stay tuned."

That's from the producers' statements (not Millar and Gough, of course). Now, guys? Tell me that means Rosenbaum will be a recurring hiya. Don't tell me you're thinking of shaving someone else's head and calling him Lex. Rosenbaum is pretty much the best actor on the show, and he brought a nuanced conflict to Lex that, frankly, no one has. Ever. Not even Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey, both fine gentlemen of the craft. Rosenbaum made me understand Lex, as well as dread him. Don't even think of replacing him.

On the other hand, they've come up with new villains! Like... Doomsday!

I wish I were kidding. Yes, ol' Rocky is slated to come on next season. As we all know, Doomsday is the only opponent to get the best of the Boy Scout: he killed Superman in the famous "death" that lasted six months. Hey, in comics nobody dies forever. But please - we're going to see DOOMSDAY on the CW's budget? And isn't this about, oh, fifty years too soon?

Clark's getting another nemesis, and this one's a woman. They're keeping mum on her identity, but she'll be "familiar to many fans and will set her sights on Clark in ways Lex never could," they say.

[Considering about sixteen slash comments.]
[Deleting them all because this is a family newspaper blog. Make your own jokes.]

I'm also annoyed because whichever vixen they get, it's clear women on the CW still have only two purposes: be evil, and/or fall in love with the hero. Headdesk, repeat as needed.

I honestly wish they'd just have Clark drop by Metropolis and meet the only boy who can out-brood him. Got a thing for bats. C'mon, at least that would be fun. Maybe set up for a spinoff, if they could find an actor and writers that have actually read a comic once or twice. And then Clark, Green Arrow and the rest of the gang could swing by from time to time.

Well, it was fun knowing you, Rosenbaum. You were great to watch. Good luck running the free world, and drop by once in a while.

And don't think I didn't notice who was missing from your thank-you list, from John Glover to Millar/Gough: Tom Welling.

Comments

[Kathy]

Possilbe Spoilers
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Damn, of course, the It's a Wonderful Life rip off last night meant that all the good things that we saw was just a fantasy.

It was the real DC/Superman universe to me.
Lois and Clark meeting at the planet and Clark putting on glasses.

Of course, I guess I shouldn't be surprised about Doomsday since they used the enviroment for him in the fantasy sequence.
(Lex as President and Kara his assistant (also refereencing the Supergirl/Matrix period when she wasn't just a skank.))

Of course, I thought you would be happy that at the end of last night's episode they seemed to have eliminated the Lana problem.

[Mitch]

"I honestly wish they'd just have Clark drop by Metropolis and meet the only boy who can out-brood him. Got a thing for bats."

Do you by chance mean Gotham City?

[Michael Phillips]

Mitch, I suspect she didn't. Clark and Bruce met each other at the Metropolis World's Fair.

[Timewalker]

Actually, the original idea that Millar and Gough had was for a young Bruce Wayne series, as he traveled the world and learned the skills he would need to become The Batman. The networks passed on it, but The WB was interested in one part of the pitch, where Bruce stopped by Smallville, Kansas and met a young Clark Kent. They latched onto that and reworked it into Smallville.